My girlfriend recently was invited by a friend of hers to join a page called BlackPlanet.com, a social networking web site dedicated to connecting African American people together in a manner similar to MySpace. She went ahead and took the invitation to join and created a profile, where she was promptly contacted by several pretty cool people, including one asking for advice on where to find rare video games. This is a rare treat for her, as she's planning on owning and running her own used video game store in the near future.
All is fine during the next few days. The small portion of the community she met so far seems to like her, and she's happy talking with decent people.
Then she gets several messages in a row asking her why she would have even got it in her mind to join BlackPlanet.com, that this was an exclusive site not meant for her.
You see, my girlfriend is white. It didn't matter that her girlfriend of mixed race invited her to join, and that many other members of the community were happy to have her there. Her skin is the wrong color, and she kept receiving harassing messages over this simple matter.
BlackPlanet.com is a wonderful site with a good purpose; connecting people together to share common interests. There are many decent people in this community. Nowhere in the BlackPlanet.com Terms of Service Agreement or Privacy Policy do I see anything barring use of the site to any one race.
I can understand to an extent that this could be viewed by some users as a 'closed community' only for African American people, but where do you draw the line? Do you only invite people of pure African descent? What about mixed races?
I expect to receive some feedback at some point in time turning my words back on me, claiming that I "don't know what blacks have had to endure over the years" and that it's "not too much to ask to be left alone to an all black online community", but you know what?
This is not good enough.
Racism is a problem the world over. Every race, every gender, every creed at some point exhibit signs of racism towards other groups. People need to make a conscious effort to look not only at the racism other people throw out, but at racism they themselves feel as well.
Many members of BlackPlanet.com got past themselves and welcomed another human being to their community. To those of you who did so, I applaud you.
To the few who can't look past their own ignorance and hate of another simply because of skin color, I tell you "For shame."
All is fine during the next few days. The small portion of the community she met so far seems to like her, and she's happy talking with decent people.
Then she gets several messages in a row asking her why she would have even got it in her mind to join BlackPlanet.com, that this was an exclusive site not meant for her.
You see, my girlfriend is white. It didn't matter that her girlfriend of mixed race invited her to join, and that many other members of the community were happy to have her there. Her skin is the wrong color, and she kept receiving harassing messages over this simple matter.
BlackPlanet.com is a wonderful site with a good purpose; connecting people together to share common interests. There are many decent people in this community. Nowhere in the BlackPlanet.com Terms of Service Agreement or Privacy Policy do I see anything barring use of the site to any one race.
I can understand to an extent that this could be viewed by some users as a 'closed community' only for African American people, but where do you draw the line? Do you only invite people of pure African descent? What about mixed races?
I expect to receive some feedback at some point in time turning my words back on me, claiming that I "don't know what blacks have had to endure over the years" and that it's "not too much to ask to be left alone to an all black online community", but you know what?
This is not good enough.
Racism is a problem the world over. Every race, every gender, every creed at some point exhibit signs of racism towards other groups. People need to make a conscious effort to look not only at the racism other people throw out, but at racism they themselves feel as well.
Many members of BlackPlanet.com got past themselves and welcomed another human being to their community. To those of you who did so, I applaud you.
To the few who can't look past their own ignorance and hate of another simply because of skin color, I tell you "For shame."
